Kia Motors' Aggressive Plans For India

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V10

Kia Motors, South Korea’s second-largest carmaker, is set to drive into the fast-growing Indian car market and build a manufacturing facility here, a person with direct knowledge of the development said.

The company, partly owned by South Korea’s largest carmaker Hyundai Motors, will bring in compact cars, hatchbacks and entry-level sedans initially and will expand into compact sports utility vehicles later, said the person requesting anonymity.

Kia, known for its sleek but aggressively priced vehicles, is shifting its focus to Asia from its largest market Europe where demand is shrinking. “It is hunting for alternate markets after the 2008 financial meltdown,” the person said.

When contacted, a Kia spokesman said the company was in very early stages of conducting a feasibility study into the possible entry into India. “We are still a long way from making any decision,” he said.

The first person quoted, however, said Kia may launch its popular hatchbacks Picanto and Proceed, besides its top-selling sedans Forte and Rio.

The sedans will be pitted against the segment leader Honda City while the small cars could be competing with Maruti Ritz and Hyundai i10.

Kia will also roll out compact SUVs Soul and Sorento that would compete with the likes of Mahindra Scorpio and Maruti Suzuki’s Grand Vitara, said the person.

V10

Okay! Though I was expecting KIA to enter through the Hyundai badge, this is a good news. Picanto is an outdated crappy model. This is just similar as Santro, but a cheaper alternative.

KIA's ace of the lot is Ceed. Its a damn good vehicle and only thing which is not good in that one is KIA badge.Soul is an all new platform too. If we are getting these Ceed based models, then it gonna be another VFM buy.

Suspended

Investments into Tamil Nadu would exceed Rs20,000 crore during the present calendar year, an increase of 66 per cent over last year, according to a senior state official from the industry department. The government has received proposals worth Rs7,000 crore, mainly from automobile companies one of which includes South Korea’s second largest car marker Kia Automotive. These proposed investments would help the state government to cross Rs 75,000 crore mark, cumulative.

“We already crossed last year’s investment figure of Rs12,000 crore and by end of the present calendar year we can easily cross Rs 20,000 crore,” said a senior official from the state industry department.

The official has confirmed Kia Motors, the second-largest carmaker of South Korea, is talking to the state government for setting up a manufacturing plant. It may be noted, Hyundai Motor Company, which already has a manufacturing unit in the state, holds about 35 per cent stake in Kia Motors.

According to reports, Kia Motors is planning a manufacturing unit to produce 300,000 vehicles a year, starting 2012. According to industry experts, a plant of this size would cost around Rs4,500 crore.

V10

With India is expected to become the world's third largest auto market by next year, Kia motors sees opportunities in the Indian Market for acheiving their growth plans with the slowing pace of growth in China and Russia.
The company is 33.88% owned by the Hyundai Motor Company.

Currently Kia has no plans for production in India, but high import taxes mean Kia's could be looking at a manufacturing base at a later date if the Indian economy is lucrative enough in days to come.

Honoured Member

With India is expected to become the world's third largest auto market by next year, Kia motors sees opportunities in the Indian Market for acheiving their growth plans with the slowing pace of growth in China and Russia.
The company is 33.88% owned by the Hyundai Motor Company.

Currently Kia has no plans for production in India, but high import taxes mean Kia's could be looking at a manufacturing base at a later date if the Indian economy is lucrative enough in days to come.

I felt the same thing, all of Kia cars feel much better then equivalent Hyundai cars, I had seen them in Japan last year and I felt why isn't Kia present in India when thier products are so premium. I hope Kita enters India soon and position itself as a Premium brand which Hyundai has failed to do.